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If cozy, cheesy bites that explode with flavor sound like your kind of party starter, these Easy Fried Garlic Cheese Bombs are about to become a permanent fixture in your appetizer rotation!
Tested and perfected right in my own kitchen, this recipe uses simple pantry staples and beginner-friendly steps to deliver puffy, golden-fried bites oozing with mozzarella and rich garlic-butter goodness — ideal for game day, casual get-togethers, or just Tuesday night snack attacks. The approachable instructions and helpful tips throughout make you feel confident from the first pop of oil to that first irresistible bite.
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
How to Make Fried Garlic Cheese Bombs
There is a restaurant in Denver’s south suburbs that has my all-time favorite food rich, doughy, buttery garlic knots. They are so delicious, fluffy, and light – but they are also super, super far from my house. I wanted to put my own spin on the doughy treats, fill them with cheese and fry them to puffy, golden, deliciousness. The results? Perfect, tempting, and so easy once you make them you will dream about when to make the next batch!
How to make Easy Fried Garlic Cheese Bombs
Assemble the following ingredients:
Kraft french bread – you can get this at any grocery store, you can of course make your own french bread dough but this is so much easier and quicker.
Mozzarella Cheese – I live mozzarella but you can also use oaxaca or any other part skim melting cheese.
Corn oil – I prefer corn oil for frying because of the high smoke point but you can fry in any oil you want.
Cilantro paste – cilantro paste is a great way to get that herbaceous hit of cilantro in a way that will coat these fried cheese balls more evenly than fresh cilantro.
Garlic paste – garlic paste is my secret weapon to getting a super strong garlic flavor that can soak through the crust of these cheese bombs.
Butter – butter will help the pastes come together and add a richness.
Olive Oil – olive oil is useful for thinning the dipping sauce for these cheese bombs, use more if necessary.
Steps to Make Garlic Cheese Balls
Heat the oil. Heat the oil in a large pan to 365 degrees.
Assemble the sauce. While it is heating make the garlic sauce by mixing the pastes, oil and butter. Set aside. Unroll the French bread and tear off pieces. In each piece put a bit of cheese, roll and tuck to seal.
Fry. Once the oil is at temperature add the cheese balls and stir gently to make sure they cook evenly. Fry in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. When they are puffy and golden set them aside on paper towels to drain extra oil.
Serve. Move them to a plate while still warm and drizzle with the garlic butter sauce. Alternatively, you can use it as a dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks for perfect Fried Garlic Cheese Bombs
Oil temp matters – Heat your frying oil to about 365°F — this gets you crispy exteriors without greasy, doughy centers.
Don’t overcrowd the frying oil. Adding too many bombs at once will lower the temperature of the oil and you will get oily sogy garlic cheese bombs instead of crispy ones. Fry in batches if necessary.
Watch the hot oil. Hot frying oil can be very dangerous so make sure you watch your distance from the pan. It can pop and bubble resulting in serious burns so use caution.
Serve immediately – These are best enjoyed right out of the fryer when they’re hot and gooey — if you wait, the crispiness softens as they cool.
Seal to prevent leaks – When you wrap the cheese in dough, be sure to pinch seams tightly so molten cheese stays inside.
Cheese Bomb FAQs
This will keep at room temperature for about 3 hours. They won’t reheat with the same crisp, so I prefer to eat them all after making them or share them!
Yes! You can bake them at high heat for a slightly less indulgent version — just expect a different texture than deep frying.
Store any cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave if desired.
Mozzarella gives that classic gooey pull, but you can also use Oaxaca or other good melting cheeses for variation.
Yes — freeze uncooked bombs on a tray, then transfer to a bag. Fry or bake straight from frozen, adding a couple minutes to cook time.
A simple garlic butter, marinara, ranch, or even spicy aioli all complement these bites beautifully. Serving sauce elevates them even more. See all my dip recipes.
What to Eat with Fried Garlic Cheese Bombs
These fried garlic cheese bombs make a great appetizer for any of these incredible mains.
To check out all our cheesy recipes click here!
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Easy Fried Garlic Cheese Bombs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 can kraft French bread
- Mozzarella, oaxca, or other part skim melting Cheese
- 4 cups corn oil
- 2 tsp cilantro paste
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Heat corn oil in a large pan until it is 365 degrees.
- While oil is heating, prepare garlic butter sauce by adding the cilantro paste, garlic paste, butter, and olive oil to a small pot and melt butter, stirring well until it is melted and thoroughly mixed.
- Unroll french bread roll and tear off about 5 g cheese and 15g bread dough per cheese bomb.
- Press 15g raw bread dough into a thin circle, tucking cheese inside.
- Roll ball together, pinching dough to seal as you go.
- Add cheese bombs into oil, stir gently to make sure they cook evenly on all sides.
- When cheese bombs are puffy and golden brown, remove with a skimmer and place on a plate with paper towels to soak up extra oil.
- Move cheese bombs to plate, and drizzle garlic butter sauce over top.
- Serve and eat immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This has got to be the most frustrating site I’ve ever been on! Where the heck are the flipp’n recipes??!!!
I can’t get the recipe to come up to save my life! I keep clicking on the “print recipe” button and the page just reloads. I really want to eat these! Please help!
I love oaxca cheese, in these cheese bombs I bet it’s amazing!
I would lose control around these – looks awesome!!!
Oh my word, I just want that plate of cheese bombs in front of me ASAP!!!
I do too. Note of caution- you’ll eat them all 🙂